Process of reproducing sound records or talking motion pictures



Patented July 4, 1939 UNITED STATES PROCESS OF REPRODUCING SOUND REC- ORDS OR TALKING MOTION PICTURES Friedrich Lierg, Vienna, Austria, assignor ofonehalf to Oskar Czeija, Vienna, Austria No Drawing. Application September LS 1935,

V SerialNo; 41,177.

In Austria September 22,

' 3 Claims. (Cl. 101149) finity with respect to the dye and not on the base This invention relates to an improved process of reproducing sound records ortalking motion pictures.

Difierent processes have been proposed heretofore in order to reproduce sound records not by means of photographic copying methods but by Way of printing which is far less expensive and can be carried out in a considerably shorter space of time. However conditions, far surpassing the conditions necessary in connection with the usual printing of pictures, have to be complied with when reproducing sound records by printing. The first difliculty which has to be overcome consists in that the print must reproduce the most minute details of the sound records in the truest exactness and clearness. Therefore reliefor ordinary printings are out of question, because they are not suited to reproduce the finest details. In view thereof reliefor intaglio printing-processes are not suitable because by the same it is impossible to reproduce the minute details. Therefore from the very beginning, attention has been paid to flat printing. The second difficulty resides in the shape of the talking record, which is in the form of a long, narrow strip and calls for printing blocks or types deviating from the common block or types, so that it is impossible to resort to lithography.

In view of the aforesaid, experiments were carried out to utilize the phototypic process for reproducing sound records, because the chromatic gelatine can be applied without diificulty to strips consisting of metal, Celluloid or the like. However it has been found, that the swelled relief of the chromatic gelatine coat, on which depends the differentiating color-absorption or the indispensable crumple grains when resorting to the phototypic process, is detrimental to the true reproduction of fine details. Also the production of a permanently uniform swelling condition depends on so many outside conditions, that an uniformity of all prints is not attainable. The same drawbacks also apply to the swelled relief, produced by the known bromine oil bleachers on the base of a silver image embedded in gelatine. Offset printing oifers better prospects with respect to the obtainable quality of reproduction. However oifset printing causes considerable technical diificulties with respect to the employed printing form or block (location of the tape-like image base in screw windings .on a cylinder).

The essential feature of the present invention consists in the use of a flexible printing form in which the differentiating reception of the dye is carried out on the base of the differentiating afof the differentiating swelling condition of the printing layer.

For instance if the sound record is copied on a film coated with a halogen silver gelatine emulsion and if the developed copy is bleached by means of a bleacher to which an alkali (ammonia, borax or the like) is added, a bleaching image is formed, which is of a purely basic characteristic and of an afiinity with respect to a fatty dye round with an acidic varnish. Suitable bleachers are for instance: Like parts of 10% solution of copper sulphate, 10% solution of potassium bromide, 1% solution of chromic acid, are diluted with the equal quantity of water. Subsequently so much of a 10% solution of ammonia is added as the precipitate formed thereby dissolves itself in the bleacher.

Another example is 10 cc. of a 10% solution of potassium bichromate, 45 cc. of a 10% solution of copper sulphate, 45 cc. of a 10% solution of potassium bromide, drops .of concentrated hydrochloric acid are mixed and subsequently 30 cc. of a 10% solution of borax is added thereto. Compared with this, the swelling condition of the printing layer is of subsidiary importance, so that the reception of the fatty dye depends exclusively or practically exclusively on the chemically active bleaching image embedded in the gelatine layer.

Another way to produce a chemically active image consists for instance in imbibing in the layer hardened in a picture-like manner a solution of a tanning principle in a distribution corresponding to the graduated degree of hardness and to form, by the agency of an aqueous mixture of alum and glycerine, at the places imbibed with the tanning principle an insoluble basic aluminium tannate, which greedily attracts the fatty dye. However not only the gelatine swelled relief but also washing reliefs can be prepared in a similar manner as printing blocks or forms, which take in the fatty dye in accordance with the thickness of the relief, so that prints can be produced, shewing all the finess and graduations of the original silver image from which the washing relief has been produced.

The present invention also covers the use of such printing forms which, by evading a colloidal printing layer, transfer the same on to a band of zinc, aluminium or alloys of these metals and which before the application of the printing image is formed in the manner of a lithographic layer by the known anodic formation from combinations of the metal.

The printing layer, formed by anodic formamay be carried out from the tape-like printing form by printing devices known per se, if desired by offset printing. As printing base may be employed paper or a transparent material such as Celluloid or the like. In the same way as the sound record may be reproduced, of course, also the pictures of a talking motion film at the side of the sound record or even independent therefrom on a separate strip by printing according to the present invention, if desired on the principle of multi-color printing.

What I claim is:

1. Process of producing sound waves strips or bands by printing by means of fatty printing dyes from a flexible matrix in the shape of a strip or band, which consists in imparting to the dye-tak ing places of the matrix in the form of a sound Waves image a basic character by treating a silver image developed in a halogen silver gelatine emulsion with a bleacher to which an alkali is added, applying to the matrix a fatty dye of an acidic character, and printing from the matrix in a device for printing with fatty dyes.

2. Matrix in the shape of a flexible strip or band for printing sound waves records therefrom by means of fatty printing dyes, comprising a support, a gelatine layer on said support, a bleached sound waves silver image of basic character on said gelatine layer, and an acidic fatty dye applied to the surface of said gelatine layer and adhering to the places of the bleached sound waves silver image.

3. Sound wave strip or band printed from a matrix in the shape of a flexible strip or band for printing sound Waves records, said matrix comprising a support, a gelatine layer on said support, a bleached sound waves silver image of basic character on said gelatine layer, and an acidic fatty dye applied to the surface of said gelatine layer and adhering to the places of the bleached sound waves silver image.

FRIEDRICH LIERG. 

